The present invention relates to the improvement of airplane loading bridges, gangways, or the like and, in particular, to a gangway for loading and unloading airplanes.
Examples of airplane gangways are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,952 and in applicant's copending applications, Ser. No. 423,810, filed Oct. 18, 1989, entitled "Weatherproof and Fireproof Loading Bridge Canopy", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,321 dated Jan. 15, 1991 and Ser. No. 503,877, filed Apr. 3, 1980, entitled "Standardized Control Console for Loading Bridge". The conventional gangway is essentially a movable, articulatable corridor which, when docked to an airplane, provides a pathway for the loading and unloading of passengers, cargo, and contents of the airplane. Because aircraft have various different locations for their doorways and different contours of the surrounding fusilage and due to imprecise parking of the craft at the loading gate, the position of the door to the gate will also vary. Proper abutment of the gangway against the aircraft is crucial to the safe loading and unloading of the aircraft.
The process of abutting the gangway against the aircraft involves considerable risk of inflicting damage to the fragile structure and fusilage of the aircraft from the massive gangway structure driven by powerful motors.
The prior art attempted to ameliorate the problem through the use of flexible and/or resilient material for the abutting parts of the gangway so as to isolate and cushion the more rigid gangway structure. The prior art also teaches the use of steering position indicators and contact limit switch driven indicators as feedback to the operators to guide them in their task. While these devices perform adequately when used by a competent, experienced, and attentive operator, ideal circumstances are often not the situation in practice. Therefore, a need exists for a system which assures proper docking of a gangway against an airplane and also a system which actively and automatically aids in the task through affirmative interaction of the various motors and control circuits which move and position the gangway.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a gangway and control apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned problems and which assures proper docking of the gangway squarely against the aircraft body so as to enhance the safe loading and unloading thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gangway and control apparatus which senses the conditions of engagement of a gangway approaching an airplane and, based upon the conditions sensed, disables and/or enables one or more motor functions, which thus results in no damage to the aircraft.
Other objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the accompanying illustrations and descriptions.